Gender Effects On Criminal Sentencing

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was found in favor of women. It was found that women were
awarded lesser sentences than their male counterparts for the same crimes;
these differences were found for both larceny and felony cases. The
leniency given to women was found to be similar to that of minors, both
male and female. Nagel and Weitzman offer explanations for this
discrimination, although no clear explanation has been discovered. They
posed that judges assume women to be weaker than men and, thus, the same
result, i.e., rehabilitation or detterance, can be achieved through a
lesser jail sentence. The authors also propose a solution to this problem
of discrimination, saying that by increasing the public's awareness of this
issue, a greater equality can be achieved.
In another literature review (Anderson, 1976), two types of
chivalrous treatment of women are discussed. Both result in discrimination
in the favor of the woman; the notion that women have completely different
motives than men, and ...

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